From: Alex Ramonsky (alex@ramonsky.com)
Date: Fri Jan 25 2002 - 13:49:12 MST
----- Original Message -----
From: "Samantha Atkins" <samantha@objectent.com>
To: <extropians@extropy.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2002 10:25
Subject: Re: Evolving Geeks?
>
>
> Alex Ramonsky wrote:
>
> > Is there any evidence to suggest a link between autism and birth / early
> > parenting methods? I read some while ago that this was the case but have
> > been unable to find any reference to it.
> > Of course I realise that such things as birth methods and parenting
methods
> > are not necessarily genetic, but most parents do tend to copy their own
> > parents to some extent in childrearing, so the effect would run in
families.
> > I do believe that 'autism' is something rather special and that the
> > 'benefits' of such a condition may come to outweigh the disadvantages.
>
>
> Well, I don't know how relevant it is or isn't but a lot of
> Gen-X and later kids grew up with less contact with their
> parental units and more time in front of the tube and/or
> computer screens from real early. Parents do not copy their
> parents when the economic conditions change so that both work
> outside the home more than may have been the case with their
> own. Also the cultural and technological environment has changed
> rather quickly which makes child-rearing even more unlikely to
> be just like mum and dad did it.
Absolutely, but the time during which people began to refer to autism as the
latest 'epidemic' was the late fifties, shortly before the family with both
people working became the norm. Also, within a community, people tend to
gravitate towards a 'norm' of childrearing ideas, so childminder's ideas and
values are likely to be similar to mum and dad's...the 'financial sexual
revolution' may on the one hand have placed children in the care of people
who actually like children, on the other hand, 'childminder' may also be
doing just a job for money, but...parents are bound to go with the
childminder who gets the best report / results / opinion from their kids. So
I believe the former to be the case, and a good thing too...but to get to
the point, if autism *is* a mutation, then it will show up in the genome as
opposed to the phenome...and what I am asking is, has anyone any evidence to
the contrary?
>
> - samantha
>
>
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